Eaton fire survivors in Pasadena and Altadena have now waited longer for federal disaster recovery funds than any community in U.S. history.
Nearly 600 days after the Eaton fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures, Congress has not appropriated more than $15 billion in long-term recovery money, LAist reported Wednesday, Aug. 26. The wait surpasses the previous record of 500 days set by Maui fire survivors, according to the nonprofit After the Fire USA.
"It's really like nothing we've ever seen before," said Jennifer Gray Thompson, founder and chief executive of After the Fire USA.
The stalled funds are Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) dollars. Gov. Gavin Newsom has requested more than $10 billion in CDBG-DR money, which can finance home rebuilds and repair public infrastructure such as water systems and roads. Thompson told LAist that even after appropriation, the average wait from approval to allocation is two more years.
Rebuilding gaps reach $500,000
As temporary housing insurance assistance runs out, survivors face a stark choice about whether they can afford to rebuild at all. A Department of Angels report released July 23, based on a survey of 2,000 survivors, found the typical homeowner still faces a $500,000 rebuilding gap. Renters remain about $100,000 short.
Two-thirds of survivors remain displaced.
L.A. County data shows only 125 new residential units have been built out of 6,746 damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire footprint. Among survivors earning less than $50,000 annually, 36% have cut back on food, 26% have experienced unstable housing and 13% have experienced homelessness.
Sam James, a sixth-generation Altadenan who founded the Altadena Recovery Team after his family lost multiple generational homes, told LAist the federal inaction is difficult to justify given conditions on the ground.
Political standoff in Washington
In June, the White House requested more than $85 billion in supplemental funds, primarily for military operations, with no disaster recovery money included. In July, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger sent letters to the Senate Committee on Appropriations urging that disaster needs be added.
Four senators, including California's Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff along with two Republicans from Utah and North Carolina, wrote a separate letter expressing concern about the omission. Sens. Padilla and Schiff characterized the exclusion as an effort by the Trump administration to punish Los Angeles and California, according to LAist.
In March, Barger had already flagged the problem locally. "The fact that only half of wildfire survivors have submitted applications makes clear that significant barriers remain, especially financial ones," she said at the time, as reported by the Pasadena Star-News in July.
State and local efforts
California has released $2.5 billion in state recovery funds, which were only beginning to reach survivors as of this week, according to LAist. In May, Newsom proposed a separate $100 million disaster rebuilding fund as part of his revised 2026–27 budget to help homeowners secure construction loans when insurance falls short.
Locally, more than 100 Eaton Fire survivors traveled to Sacramento on Aug. 18 as part of the Dena Rise Up Coalition, demanding $25 million for a proposed Community Aid for Rebuilding Equity (CARE) Fund to assist lower-income homeowners and displaced renters.
No congressional vote or appropriations deadline for the federal recovery funds has been scheduled.
